Egypt’s inflation climbs as fuel becomes expensive

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation accelerated to 13.9 percent in April from 13.6 percent in March, matching analyst expectations, data from statistics agency Capmas showed on Saturday.

Month on month, prices were 1.5 percent higher at the end of April than at end-March. Food and beverage prices decelerated by 1.5 percent. Annually, food and beverage prices rose by 6 percent.

The median forecast of analysts polled by Reuters was for annual inflation to have climbed to 13.9 percent. They cited an increase in the official price of fuel as the main cause.

Inflation soared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which prompted foreign investors to withdraw billions of dollars from Egyptian treasuries.

• IMF to review Egypt’s economic reforms this week
• Qatar to invest over $7bn in Egypt’s economy
• Egypt cuts interest rates for first time in 5 years

Headline inflation rose by a record 38 percent in September 2023.

Egypt devalued its currency, raised interest rates by 600 basis points and signed an $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund in March last year, helping to bring its finances under control.